Shattered

Chapter 70: Not Alone

Violet's POV:

Caracas, Venezuela was my overall destination, but flying in there was too dangerous. Max's base was just outside the city, tucked away in one of the many green, isolated valleys. That was why I flew in to Ocumare del Tuy instead. It was only about an hour away from Caracas, but one hour of distance made a lot of difference in situations like this.

While I couldn't be stupid walking into Caracas given it was one of the most violent cities in the world, I was glad that was where he put his new base. The one I escaped from was in Belarus. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to return to Europe after what happened there, so in a twisted way... Caracas was an improvement. I'd rather be in one of the most violent cities in the world than on any continent connected to Belarus.

I arrived in the middle of the day because the middle of the night would be too obvious. Not wanting to actually change my hair, I went with my old method of a convincing red-haired wig. I got very good at making wigs look natural years ago but admittedly was out of practice. It wasn't perfect, but especially with a baseball cap on that I bought from the airport back in the United States, it would get me by.

My first destination was a place I set up shortly after I learned construction was starting for Max's new base. It wasn't my first time in Venezuela. I came and established a safehouse close enough to be beneficial but not so close I was in danger, all during construction and well before it was finished. Even years ago, I knew this would only end one way so I set the pieces in place to make it as seamless on my future self as I could. For once, thank you past self.

Both a baseball cap and a hoodie seemed excessive, but it made me feel more secure as I rented a car under yet another alias and made my way out of the busy airport. The drive from the airport to my safehouse was long and a pain in the ass to get to, over roads that could hardly be called roads but hey, at least it was all dirt and no plants to get stuck on. Well, mostly.

Years of bad shit told me you could never be too careful so I pulled the car over into a copse of trees and bushes, taking the rest of the way up to the little shack on foot. Branches from the thick rainforest were coated in dew, making the entire forest almost shimmer. If I wasn't in a hurry, I might've stayed to appreciate it longer.

Some of the tension in my shoulders eased when I got to the shack and felt no other presence. Those abilities Alana told me to work on controlling were out of control on the plane ride. I felt every person's aura and emotions to the point it was overwhelming. If it weren't for Alana's guidance, I might've lost my mind on that flight. Instead, I focused on what she said about blocking it out. It was like closing a dam except that dam had many waterways so it wasn't just one wall I had to put down. I had to put down one for every person in the entire plane.

I'd never been so fucking exhausted in my life. Even the time I stayed awake for eight days straight, I wasn't as tired as I was after keeping blocks in place for that entire plane ride, which made walking to the shack suck even more.

My little shack did not look like much on the outside, or the inside unless you knew there was a place in the floor that led down to a basement loaded with guns, knives, and more importantly for my plans: butane. Lots of butane.

I didn't love the idea of carrying everything back and forth from where I left the car, so I walked back down to it and brought it up to the shack. Once everything was loaded, the sun was going down and I was concerned the bug spray I'd doused myself in at the airport bathroom was wearing off. The mosquitos were getting a little too friendly.

As much as I wanted to be early for everything so there was no chance something could go wrong, I was too fucking exhausted. I moved the car into the garage and locked it up, secured the rest of the shack and because old habits die hard and there was no way in hell I could feel safe being this close to Max's base, I piled blankets and pillows in the bathtub. That's where I slept, with a rig set up at every doorway and window so an arrow would fire if anything was opened, a chair braced against the door, and a pistol hidden under the blankets with me.